Improvement in apparatus for bleaching, washing, making extracts



D. ASBUBY.

Apparatus for Bleaching, Washing, Making Extracts, &c.

No.l50,2l8. PatentedApril28,I874.

@Mz/ $4M UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL ASBURY, OF CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING, WASHING, MAKING EXTRACTS, 82c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 150,218, dated April 28, 1874; application filed January 27, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL ASBURY,M.D., of Charlotte, in the county of Mecklenburg and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Making Extracts, Bleaching and Washing, &c., of which the following is a specification:

The invention has reference to an apparatus for extracting the soluble substances from tanning and vegetable materials, and for bleaching and cleansing fabrics 5 or, in fact, for accomplishing various similar operations where boiling water and steam are the agents employed. The invention consists in a vessel or receiver which is divided into two compartments by a false bottom, the upper compartment receiving the materials to be extracted, washed, or bleached, and the lower compartment acting as a boiler or chamber in which steam is generated, the communication between the two compartments being formed through the medium of a series of pendent tubes, the lower ends of which terminate in such respect to the base or bottom of the steam-generating chamber that when a sufficient steam-pressure is attained in the latter the water will be forced by the steam into the upper chamber for performing its extracting or cleansing operation; and, as soon as the water has fallen below the inlet-orifices or lower ends of the conducting-tubes, the steam will also be forced into the upper compartment,when,by reason of the steam-pressure being removed from the boiler, the water will again flow back into the same for repeating the operation of generating steam and forcing water.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved apparatus for making extracts, washing, and bleaching, partly broken away to show the interior construction. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section,illustrating the employment of a heating-coil. Fig. 4 is a modified form of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1.

The letter A designates a vessel, receiver, or tank, the form or size of which is determined by the use to which the apparatus is applied. The vessel is provided with a bottom, B, and

is divided into two compartments or chambers, O D,by a false bottom, E, which is located above the bottom B. The body of the vessel A and its two bottoms may all be cast in one piece, together with the series of pendent tubes F, which project through or from the false bottom and terminate near the bottom B; but such a construction is only resorted to in certain instances, as the vessel may be formed of sheet metal or even of wood, either in one or more sections, bolted, riveted, or otherwise secured together. The upper chamher or compartment 0 contains the materials which are to be subjected to a cleansing or washing operation, or, when the apparatus is employed for making extracts, the barks or vegetable substances from which the soluble matters are to be extracted. The lower compartment D may be termed a boiler or steamgenerating chamber, since it is designed for the reception of water which is to be heated and partially converted into steam. The pendent tubes F extend to a short distance from the bottom B, and project through the false bottom E, so as to form a series of communicating passages between the compartments 0 D.

The operation of extracting or dissolving soluble matters contained in vegetable substances, or of cleansing fabrics preparatory to being subjected to the bleaching process, or of washing or rinsing clothes, is performed in the following manner: The lower chamber having been entirely filled with water, heat is applied to the vessel either by placing it over a furnace or by conducting a coil of steampipes into-the same, as shown in Fig. 3. As soon as the requisite steam-pressure is attained, the heated water will be forced by the same through the tubes F into the upper compartment, permeating or passing through the mass contained in the same, in order to perform its cleansing or extracting operation. The flow of water into the upper chamber is continued until the lower ends of the tubes F are uncovered by the fall of the water below the same, when the steam which has hitherto forced the water through the tubes also rushes through the latter into the upper chamber for assisting in the clean sin g or extracting process. The withdrawal of the steam from the lower chamber will enable the water or liquid contained in the upper chamber to descend through the tubes together with the condensed steam, and then the operation of heating the water and generating steam is repeated.

By the means described I am enabled to extract materials or cleanse fabrics in a thorough or effective manner, for the heated water and steam are caused to pass through the mass in the upper chamber both in an upward and downward direction, thus subjecting the materials to be acted upon to a prolonged con tact with the water. In order to prevent the materials or articles contained in the upper chamber from being forced outward by the action of the rising water and steam, I propose to locate above the same an open-work frame or perforated retaining-plate, H, which is se cured in position by means of pins or other equivalent fastening devices passed through holes made in the vertical arms H of said retaming-plate.

I have above referred to the adaptation of my invention for clean sing and extracting purposes; but it is obvious that it may be used for bleaching fabrics and for treating paperstock; or, in fact, for any other purpose where heated water and steam are available for performing analogous operations. In connection with an apparatus of the construction above described, I also propose to provide the same in certain instances with auxiliary short tubes or openings I, which are made in the false bottom for the purpose of enabling steam alone to be conducted into the upper chamber. Steam can be used for cleansing cloth fabrics and various other materials, rendering the apparatus susceptible of a more general use. The auxiliary tubes or openings are closed by plugs or caps when the water and steam conducting tubes are in operation. A cock or faucet, K, one or more, is applied to the base of the vessel or steam-generating chamber for the purpose of enabling the contents of the same to be discharged.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in an apparatus for making extracts, or for cleansing or bleaching fabrics, of a chamber for containing the material to be treated, communicating with a waterheating and steam-generating chamber only by a series of pendent tubes, to operate substanti ally as described.

2. The within-described process of making extracts, washing and bleaching fabrics, by causing heated water to circulate through the materials to be treated, first in an upward and then in a downward direction,by the direct action of steam, as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of January, 1874.

DANIEL ASBURY.

Witnesses JAMES L. Nonnrs, WM. J. PEYION. 

